Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	destroy_v	devil_n	power_n	8,762	5	5.0803	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62636	Several discourses upon the attributes of God viz. Concerning the perfection of God. Concerning our imitation of the divine perfections. The happiness of God. The unchangeableness of God. The knowledge of God. The wisdom, glory, and soveraignty of God. The wisdom of God, in the creation of the world. The wisdom of God, in his providence. The wisdom of God, in the redemption of mankind. The justice of God, in the distribution of rewards and punishments. The truth of God. The holiness of God. To which is annexed a spital sermon, of doing good. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury. Being the sixth volume; published from the originals, by Raph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708.	1699 (1699)	Wing T1264; ESTC R219315	169,861	473

against an Infinite God And thus the Mercy of God is exalted without the Diminution of his Justice And as his Incarnation did qualifie him for suffering so for compassion and fellow-suffering with us Heb. 2.17 18. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people for in that he himself hath suffer'd being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted 2. His Life was a means admirably fitted to bring Men to Holiness and Goodness I might go through all the parts of it but because I intend to be very short upon these Heads I shall only take notice of that Part of his Life which was spent in his publick Ministry he went about doing good the Doctrine that he Preached was Calculated for the destroying of Sin and the promoting of Holiness the great End and Design of it was to advance Righteousness and Goodness and Humility and Patience and Self-denial to make us mortifie our sensual Desires and brutish Passions to contemn and renounce this present World and this being the design of it it was a most proper Engine to demolsh the Works of the Devil and to make way for the entertainment of his Doctrine the whole frame of his Life and all the circumstances of it did contribute His Life was the practice of his Doctrine and a clear comment upon it The meanness of his Condition in the World that he had no share of the possessions of it were a great advantage to his Doctrine of self-denial and contempt of the World The Captain of our Salvation that he might draw off our Affections from the World and shew us how little the things of it are to be valued would himself have no share in it Mat. 8.20 The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the air have nests but the son of Man hath not where to lay his head The mean circumstances of his Condition were very eminently for the advantage of his Design for had he not been stript of all worldly Accommodations he could not have been so free from suspition of a worldly Interest and Design nay he could not have been so Considerable he was really greater for his Meanness The very Heathens did account this true Greatness as we find in Aristotle not to admire the Pleasures and Greatness and Pomp of the World And that his Meanness might be no Disadvantage to him those Evidences that he gave of his Divinity in the wonderful Things that he did rendred him considerable and gained more Reverence and Authority to his Doctrine then his Meanness could bring Contempt upon it Besides the manner of his Conversation was a very great Advantage to him he was of a very sweet and conversable and obliging Temper and by this Means he did gain upon the People and was acceptable to them and thus he did apply himself to them in the most Humane ways to make way for the Entertainment of his Doctrins The Miracles that he wrought did confirm his Doctrine beyond all Exception as being a Divine Testimony and setting the Seal of God to the truth of it yet because many were blinded with prejudice and tho' they did see yet would not see Christ the Wisdom of God did so order the business of his Miracles as to make them Humane ways of wining upon them for they were generally such as were beneficial he healed all manner of Diseases and Maladies by this Miraculous Power and so his Miracles did not only tend to confirm his Doctrine as they were Miracles but to make way for entertainment of it as they were benefits this was a sensible demonstration to them that he intended them good because he did them good they would easily believe that he who healed their Bodies would not harm their Souls This for his Life III. His Death which was the lowest step of his Humiliation and the consummation of his sufferings Now the Death of Christ did eminently contribute to this Design of our Redemption The Death of Christ did not only expiate the guilt of Sin and pacifie Conscience by making plenary Satisfaction to the Divine Justice but did eminently contribute to the killing of Sin in us Rom. 6.6 Knowing this that our old Man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we might not serve Sin Rom. 8.3 God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin that is by being a sacrifice for Sin condemned sin in the flesh The Death of Christ convinceth Sin to be a great Evil and doth Condemn it because the impartial Justice of God did so severely punish it in his own Son when he appeared in the Person of a Sinner and this is the most powerful Argument to us to crucifie Sin that it crucified our Saviour That so Innocent and Holy a Person should suffer so cruel and ignominious a Death for our Sins should set us for ever against it and make us hate it with a perfect hatred The circumstances of Christ's sufferings are with admirable Wisdom fitted for the conquering of Sin and Satan Sin came by the Woman the seed of the Woman suffers for Sin and by suffering Conquers it Sin began in the Garden and there our Saviour began his sufferings for Sin Sin came by the Tree and Christ bears the curse of it in hanging upon the Tree and crucifies it by his Cross And as he conquer'd sin so he overcame Satan by his own Arts. The Devil found Christ in the likness of a Man he judged him Mortal and his great Design was to procure his Death and get him into his Grave Christ permits him to bring about his Design he lets him enter into Judas he lets the Jews crucifie and put him into his Grave and roll a great stone upon it but here his Divine Wisdom appears in ruining the Devil by his own Design and snaring him in the works of his hands Heb. 2.14 By death he destroys him that had the power of death that is the Devil I know the sufferings of Christ were by the wise of the World made the great Objection against the Wisdom of this dispensation the Cross of Christ was to the Greeks foolishness and yet the wisest of them had determined otherwise in general tho' not in this particular Case Plato in the second Book of his Common-Wealth saith That a Man may be a perfect Pattern of Justice and Righteousness and be approved by God and Men he must be stript of all the things of this World he must be poor and disgraced and be accounted a wicked and unjust Man he must be whipt and tormented and crucified as a Malefactor which is as it were a prophetical Description of our Saviour's sufferings And Arrian in his Epict. describing a Man fit to reform the World whom he calls the Apostle the Messenger the Preacher and

continually changing and are not the same we were some of us were Young and now are Old once perhaps flourisht in great Prosperity but now are Poor and Needy were once Strong and Healthful but now Sickly and Weak it should comfort us in all these Changes that God is still the same and he alone is instead of all other Comforts and Supports when all other things fail we may rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God of our Salvation Youth and Health and Riches and Friends may forsake us but God hath promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us that he will not leave us when we are old nor forsake us when our strength faileth when our strength fails and our heart fails then is he the strength of our hearts and our portion for ever and when our great change shall come and the terrors of Death shall take hold of us we have still the same Comfort the Lord liveth and blessed be the God of our Salvation In a word the Consideration of God's immutability should keep us fixt and unmoved in all the Changes and Accidents of this World and not apt to be startled and surprized at them according to that of the Psalmist he shall not be afraid of evil tidings because his heart is fixed trusting in God This should make us constant to him and his truth stedfast and unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord it should make us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering in full assurance that God will be as good to us as his word and in a firm hope and perswasion of that Eternal Life which God that cannot lie hath promised SERMON V. The Knowledge of God 1 SAM 2.3 The Lord is a God of Knowledge I Come now to speak of those Properties and Perfections which relate to the Divine Understanding and Will and Manner and Power of acting Knowledge considers things absolutely and in themselves Wisdom considers the respects and relations of things one to another and under the Notion of Means and Ends. The Knowledge of God is a perfect comprehension of the Nature of all things with all their Powers and Qualities and Circumstances the Wisdom of God is a perfect Comprehension of the Respects and Relations of things one to another of their Harmony and Opposition of their fitness and unfitness to such and such Ends. The Knowledge of God only implies his bare Understanding of Things but his Wisdom implies the Skill of ordering and disposing things to the best Ends and Purposes to make every thing and to govern and administer all things in Number Weight and Measure I shall at present speak of the first of these the Knowledge of God which as I said is a perfect Comprehension of the Nature of all things and of every thing belonging to their Nature of the Powers and Qualities and Circumstances of things These Words signifie God to be the Fountain of Knowledge that is that he possesseth it himself and communicates it to others In the handling of this I shall First Endeavour to prove that this Attribute belongs to God Secondly Shew the Perfection and the Prerogatives of the Divine Knowledge Thirdly Draw some practical Inferences from the whole First For the proof of it I shall attempt it two ways 1. From the Dictates of Natural Light and Reason 2. From Scripture or Divine Revelation 1. From the Dictates of Natural Light and Reason I begin with this first because unless this be establish'd all Divine Revelation falls to the ground unless Natural Reason assures us That God is endowed with Knowledge and Vnderstanding it is in vain to enquire after Divine Revelation For to make any Revelation credible two things are requisite on the part of the Revealer Ability and Integrity that he have a perfect Knowledge and Vnderstanding of the thing which he reveals so that he cannot be deceived himself and so much Goodness and Truth that he will not deceive us Now unless our Reason assure us that God is endowed with Knowledg and Vnderstanding the first Condition is evidently wanting viz. Ability and consequently the second Integrity for there cannot be goodness and veracity without Knowledge This being premised I proceed to the proof of it from such Arguments as our Natural Reason suggests to us I have formerly told you that the Divine Perfections are not to be proved by way of Demonstration but by way of Conviction by shewing the Absurdities and Inconveniencies of the contrary for if we deny Knowledge to God we must deny it to be a Perfection we must deny it to be in any of the Creatures we must attribute many other Imperfections to God all which are absurd to our Natural Reason for Natural Reason dictates to us That Knowledge is a Perfection that it is to be found in the Creatures and that the denial of it to God will argue many other Imperfections in the Divine Nature now these are so many Arguments which Natural Reason offers to us to prove that knowledge belongs to God 1. It is a Perfection and therefore belongs to God Natural Reason tells us tho' the Scripture had not said it That Knowledge excells Ignorance as much as Light doth Darkness now whatever is Perfect and Excellent is to be attributed to the Divine Nature for this is the first Notion we have of God That He is a Being absolutely Perfect 2. Knowledge is to be found in some of the Creatures and therefore is much more in God the Creator because it is derived from him Our very Understandings whereby we know God or any thing else are an Argument that Knowledge and Vnderstanding are in God If he gives wisdom to the wise and Knowledge to them that know Vnderstanding if he communicates this Perfection to the Creatures he himself is much more possest of it The Scripture indeed useth this Argument but I mention it as that which Natural Reason doth suggest to the most brutish and ignorant of Men. Psal 94.8 9 10. Vnderstand ye Brutish among the People and ye Fools when will ye be wise he that planted the Ear shall he not hear he that formed the Eye shall he not see 3. The denyal of this Perfection to God argues many other Imperfections in the Divine Nature Nothing would more eclipse the Divine Nature than to take away this Perfection from it this would bring an universal Obscurity upon God's other Perfections this would be to put out the Light of Heaven and to turn the brightness of the morning into the shadow of death If we remove this Perfection from God we deny his Wisdom He that does not know the Nature and Qualities of Things cannot know how to apply Means to Ends to fit or sute one thing to another And we weaken his Power What an impotent and ineffectual thing would Power be without Knowledge what irregular things

Reward Now as an Argument to us to retreat and draw back from sin the Gospel promises pardon and indempnity to us and as an incitement to Holiness the Gospel opens Heaven to us and sets before us everlasting Glory and Happiness and gives us the greatest assurance of it This is the First The Design of the Gospel is reasonable in that it does eminently and directly serve the ends of Piety and Religion II. This Dispensation of God is beneficial to us and satisfies our Interest and this adds to the unreasonableness of our Unbelief this Design of God being not only reasonable in it self but desirable to us that it should be so because of the eminent Advantages that redound to us by it The Design of the Gospel is to deliver from the Guilt and Dominion of Sin and the Tyranny of Satan to restore us to the Image and Favour of God and by making us partakers of a Divine Nature to bring us to Eternal Life And is there any thing of real Advantage which is not comprehended in this Is it not desirable to every Man that there should be a way whereby our guilty Consciences may be quieted and appeased whereby we may be delivered from the fear of Death and Hell Is it not desirable to be freed from the slavery of our Lusts and rescued from the Tyranny and Power of the great Destroyer of Souls Is it not desirable to be like God and to be assured of his Love and Favour who is the best Friend and the most dangerous Enemy and to be secur'd that when we leave this World we shall be unspeakably happy for ever Now the Gospel conveys these Benefits to us and if this be the Case of the Gospel and there be nothing in this Design of our Redemption but what is Wise and Reasonable and exceedingly for our Benefit and Advantage why should any Man be so averse to the Belief of it Why should Unbelief be counted a piece of Wit Is it Wit to set our selves against Reason and to oppose our best Interest 'T is Wickedness and Prejudice and inconsiderateness which disbelieves the Gospel Those who do consider things welcome this good News and embrace these glad Tidings Wisdom is justified of her Children To them who are truly sensible of their own Interest and willing to accept of reasonable Evidence this is not only a true saying but worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the World to save sinners Secondly This doth convince Men of the madness and folly of impenitency Now the Wisdom of God hath contrived such a way of our Recovery and by the Declaration of God's Wrath and displeasure against sin hath given us such Arguments to Repentance and by discovering a way of Pardon and Mercy hath given us such encouragement to Repentance how great must the Folly of impenitency be For consider 1. That impenitency Directly sets it self against the Wisdom of God If after all this we continue in our Sins we reject the counsel of God against our selves we despise the Wisdom of God and charge that with Folly and we do it against our selves to our own injury and ruine If we live in our Sins and cherish our lusts we directly oppose the end of our Redemtion we contradict the great Design of the Gospel we contemn the admirable Contrivance of God's Wisdom who sent his Son into the World on purpose to destroy Sin for we uphold that which he came to destroy 1 John 3.5 Ye know that he was manifested to take away our Sins Now shall we continue in Sin when we know the Son of God was manifested to take away Sin God cannot but take it very ill at our hands when he hath laid out the Riches of his Wisdom in this design for us to go about to defeat him in it this is at once to be unthankful to God and injurious to our selves 't is such a madness as if a condemned Man should despise a Pardon as if a Prisoner should be fond of his Fetters and refuse Deliverance as if a Man desperately sick should fight with his Physician and put away Health from him If we do not comply with the wisdom of God which hath contrived our recovery we forsake our own mercy and neglect a great Salvation we love death and hate our own Souls Prov. 8.14 15 16. 2. Consider we cannot expect the wisdom of God should do more for our recovery than hath been already done the wisdom of God will not try any further means Mat. 21.37 last of all he sent his Son If we despise this way if we tread under foot the Son of God and count the blood of the Covenant whereby we are sanctified an unholy thing there will remain no more sacrifice for sin Heb. 10.26 29. What can expiate the guilt of sin if the Blood of Christ do not What shall take us off from sin what shall sanctifie us if the blood of the Covenant be ineffectual We resist our last Remedy and make void the best Means the Wisdom of God could devise for our Recovery if after the revelation of the Gospel we continue in our Sins 3. If we frustrate this Design of God's Wisdom for our Recovery our Ruin will be the more dreadful and certain Impenitency under the Gospel will increase our Misery If Christ had not come we had had no sin in comparison of what we now have but now our sin remains and there is no cloak for our sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We shall not be able at the day of Judgment to Preface any thing by way of Excuse or Apology for our Impenitency What shall we be able to say to the Justice of God when that shall condemn us who rejected his Wisdom which would have saved us We would all be saved but we would be saved without Repentance now the Wisdom of God hath not found out any other way to save us from Hell but by saving us from our sins And thou that will not submit to this Method of Divine Wisdom take thy Course and let 's see how thou wilt escape the damnation of hell I will conclude all with those dreadful words which the wisdom of God pronounceth against those that despise her and refuse to hearken to her Voice Prov. 1.24 25 26. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my Hand and no man regarded But ye have set at naught my Counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh They who will not comply with the Counsel of God for their Happiness they shall inherit the Condition which they have chosen to themselves they shall eat the fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own devices SERMON X. The Justice of God in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments GEN. XVIII 25 Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right IN treating of the Attributes of God I have considered those